Till Secrets Be The Death of Us
by ShadowAlchemist4
Summary: On hold until I get more feedback and can think of a better plotline P Sorry people
1. Stupid Mistakes

**Mika: Hello everybody! This is my first ever fanfic! :D**

**Ed: *sarcasticly* Woot**

**Mika: Shut up, Ed. So, some things you need to know! This takes place after the Elrics get back to their world. Ed still has his automail...**

**Ed: D:**

**Mika: and Al has his body back.**

**Al: :D**

**Mika: I'm not sure how often I can update this, so if it's been 2 weeks and I havn't added another chapter, deal with it. thats all =D Ed, do the disclaimer.**

**Ed: No. Why do i still have automail?**

**Mika: Because.**

**Ed: Because why?**

**Mika: Because I said so.**

**Ed: Why?**

**Al: *sigh* Mika does not own FMA or any or it's characters!**

Chapter 1: Stupid Mistakes

"Eh, I wish this damn heat would just go away already!" Ed groaned.

Alphonse sighed. "It's not just going to go away when you tell it to, Brother."

He rolled his eyes. "Really, Al, I didn't know that. I just learn something new every damn day, don't I?"

It was about 90 degrees out, and Edward Elric was in an extremely bad mood. Not to mention his Automail was getting really hot.

The Elrics were in the West, in the town of Kenendel. They never could stay in one place for very long (whether they go because they want to or because they kicked out) and their recent journeys had landed them there.

Ed grumbled some more and continued to look for a place to get some food. At least with all of the trees around, there was a bit of shade here and there.

"Hey, how about we go over th- OUCH!" Ed was cut short when something whacked him over the head.

"Whoops. Watch where your going, kid."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A KID, DAMMIT?!" Edward glared at the guy who hit him over the head with a wooden beam. He was smirking at him. Smirking at him! He could just make out those evil purple eyes under the cap.

The stranger put down the bean and dusted off his gloves on his pants. "You. Your shorter than me, probably younger, so I'm calling you a kid. Got a problem with that?"

Ed gritted him teeth. "Yeah, I do." This guy looked like he was having fun with this!

The guy had a mischievous look on his face now. "Well...I bet those short legs can't run very fast, can they, Shrimp?" And with that, he took off.

Ed snapped. "Get back here, bastard!" The stranger only laughed in reply and kept running.

Alphonse sigh and trotted after his older brother. _Here we go again..._

Ed had only chased the guy a block before he took a sharp turn and headed to the woods. When he finally got past the first trees, he stopped. _Where did he go?_

"Eh, not bad, for someone with such short legs." Ed looked up. The stranger had climbed up a huge tree, and now stood 50 feet off the ground on a branch, grinning.

"Well then, how about we bring you back down a bit?" Still a fair distance from the tree, he clapped and pressed his hands to the ground. Back up in the tree, the branch the guy was standing on vanished.

When he heard the scream, he realized what he just did. _Shit, that was really, really stupid!_Ed ran to the base of the tree.

What he found shocked him speechless. The guy wasn't a guy. She was a girl. Her hair had come out from her cap. And blood was pouring from her head.

"H-hey... Are you ok?" Edward nervously pushed her a bit with his foot. He really hoped she wasn't dead...

"Are you two done figh- What did you do, Brother?!" Alphonse had finally caught up. "I- It wasn't- Just reacted- Wha..." He didn't know what to say, he just sunk down on his knees. "I...I can't believe I killed her over something so...stupid..."

"D...Don't you go killing me off already, kid." She groaned as she sat up and slumped against the tree. "Man, that hurt. Oh look, I'm bleeding..."

She glanced over at them. They were both staring stupidly at her with their mouths open. "What?"

"Well, we kinda thought you were dead."

"And a guy," Ed added. "And what do you mean by 'Oh look, I'm bleeding'?! You have blood gushing down your face!"

"Oh really? Cool. That probably looks so awesome, wish I could see it..."

The brothers glanced at each other and silently agreed on something. This girl was NOT normal.

* * *

**Mika: Short chapter D=**

**Ed: WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALLER THAN A BEAN??!?!1**

**Mika: -.-'**

**Al: -.-'**

**Mika: Please R&R!**


	2. Odd Acquaintances

**Mika: I'm very sorry for the long wait! I was away, and...**

**Ed: She's lying. She's ben at home all week. She's just lazy...**

**Mika: 0///0 Alright, so I wasn't away, but I might as well have been, with theater and Venture Crew and basketball and catering (yes, I cater)!**

**Ed: Well you forgot to mention the fact that you had chapter 2 done 2 weeks ago, but you were just too lazy to upload it!**

**Mika; Was not! Alright, maybe a little, but I was also having some issues with FF because for some reason I couldn't get the right file type off of WordPerfect, So I was forced to use Notepad (Which really sucks).**

**Ed: And also, you didn't have my personality down at ALL. I would just dump this girl in the middle of the woods, not carry her around and all that crap.**

**Mika: I wanted you to be a better person. So there.**

**Ed: Your really immature, you know that, right?**

**Mika: Am not!**

**Ed: Are too!**

**Mika: Am not!**

**Ed: Are too!**

**Al: *Eye roll* Mika does not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of it's characters!**

**Mika: Am not! *Pouts***

* * *

Chapter 2: Odd Acquaintances

Edward was concerned. A girl had just fallen fifty feet out of a tree, had started gushing blood, and now he thought her brain had been damaged somehow.

"There's a stream near here, maybe I can see what my face looks like right now in my reflection. I can't believe that branch broke! I've been up there a million times and it's been fine."

She continued babbling on about random things, still sprawled out under the huge tree.

"...always tells me to be careful. Is it bad that I'm feeling dizzy?"

The alchemist was speechless for a moment before realizing what she had just said.

"Your feeling dizzy? No, that's not good. We need to clean that wound and bandage it before you die of blood loss."

She looked at him skeptically.

"We? I can take of myself just fine, thank you very much!" With that she jumped up onto her feet, and immediately crashed down again.

"Ow~~~," She moaned, grabbing her ankle. Ed crouched down beside her.

"Looks like you need our help after all, huh?"

"Shut up, kid," she said bitterly.

Normally he would have gotten mad about being called a kid, but under these circumstances, he decided to try to be helpful instead.

"You mentioned that there was a stream around here. We really do need to stop that bleeding, so where is it?"

She pointed deeper into the woods

"Right around there. The only problem is that I might not be able to crawl over those rocks."

Now it was Edward's turn to look skeptical.

"You weren't really considering crawling all that way, were you?"

There was a brief pause.

"'Course not."

He sighed and then slung her arm over his shoulder and pulled her up. Alphonse was about to grab her other arm but she moved away.

"I'm fine just like this. It's ok," she said quickly.

He shrugged and went ahead to move any large branches out of the way while Ed half-dragged the injured girl towards the small stream. When they got there, she carefully knelt down next to it.

Ed eyed the water. "Let me check it first to make sure it's not contam-" There was a large splash when she dunked her whole head into the water. "-inated."

She pulled her head up, sending water flying off of her long brown hair. "I've spent half my life up here by this stream. Believe me, it's fine. By the way, who are you guys?"

Ed chuckled a bit. "I'm Edward Elric, and this is Alphonse, my brother." The latter smiled and gave a little wave. The girl patted Al on the shoulder. "It must be hard having a little brother like that," she said sympathetically.

Ed gritted him teeth. "This is Alphonse. My little brother." Al and the girl laughed. "So who are you?"

"The name's Riona. I don't have a last name, so I'll just make one up. How about Silviena?"

"Um..." She seemed to be asking him rather than telling him. "Sure?"

"Alright!" She grinned. "So tell me, Mr. Elric, how old are you? 15? 16?"

He glared at her. "18."

Riona's eyes widened "No way! Then that means your older than...than...me..."

Now it was his turn to grin. "Who's the kid now, huh?" He left her to her sulking and turned to his brother. "Know anything about broken ankles? I have no idea what to do with it."

Al shook his head. "I never really had to worry about that kind of thing before. You know..."

"Yeah, same here. I've broken my 'ankle' plenty of times, but Winry was the one who fixed it."

Riona looked at him curiously. Even in the blistering heat, he still wore his red jacket, which he now pulled off to reveal his automail arm. Her eyes widened. "That's not all." He rolled up his pant leg and showed her his leg too.

"Winry is my automail mechanic. I tend to break this alot..."

"Wow," She breathed. The automail glittered in the sunlight. They stood silently for a few moments before Edward remembered why they were here. He ripped a strip off of his jacket and tied it around her head.

"You should find a place to sit while I look at your ankle."

"There's a log over the stream right there. It's my spot." He didn't bother ask her what her 'spot' was. When they had finally gotten her onto the log (after falling in the water several times), Ed took a look at her ankle. It was swelling and turning an assortment of interesting colors, so he was pretty sure it was broken.

"Why are you guys helping me, anyway?" Riona asked.

"Well, it was my fault you fell, so I'm helping you out."

"What are you talking about? It's not your fault the branch snapped. It's my fault for not testing it before I stood on it."

_She doesn't realize that I used alchemy! __I can get out of this mess! _Ed thought. Alphonse must have known what he was thinking, because Ed caught him looking at him meaningfully. He sighed. There goes that plan.

"Well, funny story, actually. The branch didn't really break...I kind of used alchemy and made it disappear."

There was a long, awkward pause before the shouting started.

"You made it _disappear_? While I was _standing on it_? What kind of an idiot are you? I could have died!_ Died_! Do that kind of stupid thing without thinking again and you could really kill someone next time!" She groaned and cradled her head in her hands. "Now look what you made me do. I think it's bleeding again..."

Ed paled. "Yeah. Your right. Sorry."

She gave a weak smile. "It's alright, I forgive you. I really just needed to rant a bit. I'm the one who started it, anyway."

They all sat silently on the log for a while, swishing their feet in the water. Ed studied Riona closer. She had scars on her face, two on each cheek, that looked a bit like fangs pointing towards her mouth. She was- he hated to admit it- taller than him by a few inches. She looked to be used to hard work- She definitely had some musculus on those arms- you could see them through the long shirt she wore.

"I had a good reason, but how can you wear that long shirt out here?" He asked suddenly.

She completely ignored him and continued to braid a few pieces of grass together.

"I think we should get back to the village s-" she froze.

"What's the matter?" Alphonse asked.

"S...sn...snake..." She whispered. A Garter snake had just slipped into the water in front of them.

Ed was confused. "It's just a harmless little Garter snake. They don't hurt you."

She shook her head violently, flecks of blood working their way out of the bandage. "It's a snake. I don't care. It's still a snake!"

Ed laughed a bit. "I never thought someone like you would have as girly a fear as snakes!"

He shut up abruptly when he saw her face. Her eyes.

Pure terror.

* * *

****

Mika: Alright, we're learning a bit more about this 'Riona'. I really love that name. Funny story, actually-

Ed: Yeah yeah, you thought you made up the name and found it was a popular Irish name. You've told me. Multiple times

****

Mika: But I was telling them that.

Ed: Well now you don't have to.

Mika: =(

Al: Stop being mean, Brother.

Mika: AL! *Glomp*

Al: 0.0'

Ed: -.-'

Mika: So anyway, I finally got chapter 2 out! Please tell me what you thought! Pleeease! And as I get into it more feel free to suggest scenes or side-plot ideas! And if there's any awkward situation you want to see Ed in, please send that too! *evil eye gleam*

****

Ed: 0.0

Al: ...Please R&R!


	3. Not What You Thought

**Mika: Yay! Chapter three!**

**Ed: Yay! It's late again!**

**Mika: I tried to update every week but I'm busy! =( Ooooh, who read chapter 107? STUPID AL! :(**

**Al: . I had a perfectly good reason.**

**Mika: But you did have to k-**

**Al: Don't spoil it for people who haven't read it!**

**Mika: Buh, buh, buh, but you DE-**

**Al: I will hate you forever and ever if you say it.**

**Mika: 0.0**

**Ed: Well, this is different.**

**Mika: What?**

**Ed: Usually you and I fight in the ANs.**

**Mika: True dat =) This is getting to be way too long. I'll be good, Al, so please to the disclaimer?**

**Al: Mika does not own FMA or FMAB or any of its characters-**

**Ed: Or else you would only get a chapter or episode every few months -.-**

* * *

Chapter 3: Not What You Thought

The snake was now lying on a rock with a spike made with alchemy sticking out of it's lifeless body. The Elric brothers were trying, in vain, to calm Riona down. She was shaking so much that her wound had reopened, and blood was pouring down her face again. She was staring blankly at nothing, muttering nonsense. Ed and Al were panicking, not knowing what to do with this seemingly insane girl.

After a few more minutes of this, Edward finally wrapped his left arm around her neck, whispered "Sorry," and- very gently- squeezed. In a couple of seconds she was lying limp in his arms.

Al's eyes widened. "What did you just do?"

"She's just unconscious. Easier to carry that way. Help me get her on my back, will you?" Al lifted her up and wrapped her around his brothers back, and then looked around.

"I hope you remember how to get back, Brother."

"Of course I do. We didn't go very far."

* * *

An hour later, they were still wandering around the woods, having switched the girl to Al's back.

"This girl is more trouble than she's worth. I say we dump her here," Ed grumbled.

"You wouldn't really dump an injured girl in the middle of the woods by herself, would you?"

Ed and Al jumped. Riona had woken back up, and had a smirk plastered across her face. She carefully climbed off of Alphonse and hobbled over to a small tree. She grabbed a good sized branch and put weight on it until it snapped. Flopping on the ground, she pulled a knife out of somewhere and started to scrape at the branch.

"Where did you get that?" Al asked, examining the knife that looked like it had a fair bit of value.

"Do you mean where did I get the knife or where did I pull it out of?"

"Both, I guess," He admitted.

She continued to hack away at the forked part of the branch for a few minutes before answering.

"Made it. And I got it off of my belt." Al opened his mouth to state that she wasn't wearing a belt when she grabbed the top of her breeches and pulled down the side a bit. She _was_ wearing a belt, underneath the breeches, and from it hung a row of daggers of assorted sizes.

Riona saw the look on the Elric's faces and grinned. "Take a guess, how many daggers do you think I have with me right now?"

Ed's answer was seven, Al's ten.

She took the seven daggers off of her belt, then lifted up her shirt part way to reveal a vest over another shirt. She pulled six long knives out of the vest, then rolled up her pant legs and pulled off four with their sheaths strapped to her legs. She pulled two more out of the top of her long boots, and then finally pressed a small knob on the bottom of each boot and slid two more out. She put these all in a (very large) pile, and then sat back, satisfied.

The look on their faces was priceless. Riona found it difficult to control her laughter as Ed positively stuttered in disbelief.

He finally managed to get his voice working again.

"What the HELL do you need all of those for? I could have gotten stabbed while I was carrying you or something! And where did you get all of those, anyway? No offence, but I really don't think you could afford all of these."

Riona now had a stubborn look on her face with her arms crossed over her chest.

"First of all, It wouldn't have stabbed you, because they're all sheathed and put a certain way so they don't stick out. And I really hope your not implying that I stole these. I told you before, I made them. It's what I do. As for what I need them for..." She paused, "That's none of your business."

She got back up, put her newly made crutch under her arm, and started to hobble away.

She didn't even glance behind her. "Coming?"

The Elrics caught up with Riona, and they walk (or limped) in silence for a few minutes before Riona led them out of the woods and back to the vilage. They wound between houses for a while before Al asked, "Where are we going?"

"Doctor. My ankle's broken remember?" She said bluntly. She finally led them to a small cottage, where she knocked on the wooden door.

A tall man opened the door, peering down at them through his small glasses.

"Ah, Riona. Back again, are we? How's the wrist?"

She blushed. "My wrist is fine, it stopped hurting a few days ago."

"So then why are you here?" He inquired.

"This genius over here," She jabbed her thumb at Edward, "Broke my ankle. Note the crutches."

"Ah, I see." He peered closer at Ed. "May I ask why you found it necessary to break this girl's ankle?"

Ed blushed furiously. "I didn't mean to! And she started it!"

Riona rolled her eyes. "What are you, five years old?" She turned back to the doctor. "So can you please look at it and not make me stand here much longer? In case you didn't notice it, I have a _broken ankle_ here!"

"I feel a bit better knowing she's like this to everyone," Ed muttered to his brother. Al nodded in agreement.

****

Mika: I'll keep this short. **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please PM with any questions or ideas =)**

Al: Please R&R!


	4. The Journey Begins

**Mika: ='( C-chapter 4 people...**

**Ed: What's your problem?**

**Mika: I just read the latest chapter of FMA. The LAST chapter, mind you. I HATE YOU, (Has a brain fart and can't remember the name of the author)!11!1!**

**Al: Well, they're the one who made us, so-**

**Ed: So you should actually love them.**

**Mika: ...I guess that's true... .0.0. Well I named this chapter in honor of the last chapter (named The Journey Ends). Please enjoy T.T**

**Ed: Mika doesn't own FMA or any of it's characters.**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

"Well, it's definitely broken. You have a minor concussion, too." Doctor Vailen pushed his glasses back up his slimy nose yet again and scribbled something down on a small notebook.

"I'll just have to make a small incision to make sure it sets right. You. Out!" He barked at Edward and Alphonse. "You. On the table!"

Riona carefully climbed onto the table and rolled up her pant leg. Suddenly, Doctor Vailen jabbed her leg with a needle and injected her with something.

Within seconds, she had him pinned to the floor, a dagger at his throat.

"What was that?" she snarled

"It's for the pain! It's to numb your leg!" he sputtered, eyes bulging.

He was right. Riona realized she couldn't feel her leg anymore. "Oh," she said, red-faced. She climbed off of the doctor.

He jumped to his feet, chest heaving, eyeing her. "There's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?"

She resumed her position on the table as he bent over her foot.

It was the oddest sensation. She could feel him poking and prodding inside her foot, but she didn't feel any pain. He had advised her before he made the incision not to watch, as it wouldn't be a pretty sight. She obeyed.

Later, she walked out on her crutches, (She wouldn't use the real ones Doctor Vailen suggested,) her foot and head freshly bandaged, and was surprised to see the brothers waiting for her.

Ed mumbled some excuse about only staying because they didn't know their way around, but Al ruined that by rushing over with a worried look on his face.

"Are you alright? Did it go okay? Why are you still using a branch?"

Riona sighed and simply said, "I'm fine," as she was worn from the day's adventures.

* * *

Ed flopped down on the bed, utterly exhausted. The girl had told them she could get home herself, and eventually resorted to wearily threatening them with daggers if they didn't stop following her around everywhere she went.

The Inn that the Elrics were staying in was rather cheap, but very comfortable. He pondered the day's events.

There was something strange about the girl, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Not just the way she acted, but the way she looked, almost as if she was constantly off-balance. And those scars...What had this girl been through?

Oh well, it was none of his business. He forced himself to stop trying to figure her out and go to sleep.

* * *

Edward opened the door to find Riona standing there, arms crossed, with a hell of a determined look on her face.

"What do you want?" He asked wearily.

"I'm coming with you."

He blinked in surprise. It was two weeks after the incident, and the Elrics were about to move on farther west, but they only got so far as the door. They had seen little of Riona during that time, as she was busy at the construction site she helped with. She now stood outside their door, demanding to go with them.

"Why would you want to go with us? It's dangerous and there's no reason for you to come along."

"I want something more than just this little town on the edge of nowhere. Nothing ever happens here!"

"So you want to tag along with a pair of strangers on some unknown adventure to some unknown place?"

"Yes, I do! I'm capable of so much more than I can ever do here."

"But it would still be a burden to us if you came along. We get nothing out of this."

Wrong choice of words. At that instant she whipped out a dagger and aimed for his face. He transmuted his automail into his signature blade and barely hit it aside in time. By the time he realized that was just to distract him, she was already behind him, the point of another one to his throat.

"You need me in your party more than you can know, Mr. Alchemist. And perhaps along the way I can give you a few pointers on fighting daggers, as you are obviously not well-learned on the subject." She whispered in his ear, before releasing him.

He burned with fury and embarrassment for a few seconds before saying through gritted teeth, "You have one hour to meet us back here with your things, or we're leaving without you."

"Who said I needed an hour?" She turned slightly to show the small bag on her back. "I'm ready when you are."

He sighed, beaten. "Whatever. Let's go, Al."

Riona grinned and stretched out her arms.

"Ooh, this is going to be fun, I can tell!"

* * *

**Mika: Yay for chapter 4! Now I can finally get moving with the plot line! **

**Ed: Which, by the way, doesn't exist.**

**Mika: Well, not YET anyway. But I'm working on it. And that where YOU come in! Yes, you, reader! If you have a cool plot idea (even if it's not cool, just send it) PM me! Or if you have some questions, PM me! And LAST, but most certainly not least, PLEASE REVIEW! I need feedback, people! I have no idea if the story is any good or not because no one is telling me T.T And you have no idea how awesome it would make me feel to check the story and see that someone reviewed!**

**Ed: You done yet?**

**Mika: ...Yes...**

**Al: Oooh, ooh, I have a question!**

**Mika: Shoot.**

**Al: How come I'm barely in the story?**

**Mika: ...ummm...I'm not sure. I guess it's because Ed is the one who usually takes charge and speaks for both of you a lot. I promise I'll work you into the story more.**

**Al: Okay! =)**

**Mika: *whispers* That was easy.**

**Ed: *whispers* Yeah.**

**Al: ? =)**

**Ed: _PLEASE _R&R**


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